Tag: automagically

I’ve used many methods to access my computers remotely. VPN clients, TeamViewer, LogMeIn, GoToMyPC — and most of the other ways mentioned here.

I didn’t like any of them. For various reasons. Typically I simply need to get into my home iMac to find an image that I downloaded there but forgot to put in a Dropbox or Box folder. Or, even more likely, I want to browse through a few files to figure out exactly what I’m looking for.

Enter Spotdox. This app is quite fascinating. Through Dropbox, and like magic, it allows me to access the entire content of any of my computers, from any internet browser and its iOS apps.

Download the app, connect it to your Dropbox account, and you’re in. Any computer you have configured to run Spotdox.

When you log in to Spotdox (either online or via its app), you’ll see all computers that are currently on and logged into Spotdox and Dropbox. Click on a computer, and you have instant access to all of its files. You can browse, view and copy files to Dropbox from within the Spotdox window.

Lawyers are worried about security, of course. Here’s what Spotdox has to say on that topic:

To make sure you are the only one accessing your Mac you must be logged into Dropbox on both the device you are browsing from, and the Mac you are accessing. On top of this you have the ability to add a unique password to each and every Mac. For even more security Spotdox also supports Dropbox two-factor authentication.

On the iOS client app, security is further enhanced. Data between your iPhone/iOS device and your Mac is all encrypted using the OS X password you supply. We have no knowledge of or access to this password.

Privacy

Spotdox has a database that contains the minimum amount of information required to run our service. For instance, our database does not store passwords in any form – even hashed. We also do not store any access tokens in our database. We use industry standard protection mechanisms to protect our database.

While you are browsing your files we need to hold onto your directory listings and thumbnail images for a few minutes, this information is not stored permanently, and is only accessible by you. We do not share any personal information collected with anyone. When browsing from iOS devices, even this information is encrypted.

We don’t even require an email address to use our services.

You can find terms of service here.

After a free test-drive, here’s what Spotdox costs:

I’m intrigued by this app. I’ve used it a few times in the past week to find some files that I needed on a remote computer, copy them to Dropbox, and access them easily. I like this convenience.